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Elicia Funk, with Portage Community Revitalization Corporation, discusses some of the progress of Positively Portage in a meeting of stakeholders on May 3, 2012, at the PCU Centre in Portage la Prairie. PCRC is a partner organization with the Positively Portage initiative....Staff photo by Angela Brown

Portage la Prairie will have more opportunities to tout its successes as part of Positively Portage's latest announcement.

On Thursday about 20 community stakeholders, with representation from various organizations including Portage School Division and Portage District Arts Centre, attended a meeting to discuss a new direction for the Positively Portage initiative.

"We invited a selection of obvious community stakeholders to do a bunch of really positive things," said Dave Omichinski, who is co-chair of Positively Portage, adding there is an aim to refocus the Positively Portage Initiative.

There is a planned September public launch date for the new campaign to go out to the community at large.

"(It's) to give them a real flavour as to all of the good positive things that are happening, as well as challenging them to become part of Positively Portage -- by taking up the responsibility," Omichinski said.

He said there are many organizations and groups in Portage that have positive stories they can share with Positively Portage members, who can then share them with the entire community.

During the meeting, plans were announced to establish a website through using social media platforms where positive actions in the community can be promoted.

Organizers said they were looking for people to form a group of committee stakeholder members; to become community partners; or to participate as a community supporter by providing some funding or another type of support to Positively Portage.

"One of the next things we will be doing with our partners this year in Central Plains in the fall is working out a communications strategy, so we can flesh-out all those components," said Omichinski.

Positively Portage first developed as a result of the First Impressions project. Through First Impressions, teams from various communities went to similar-sized communities and recorded their impressions of the places they visited. In 2009, recommendations were released on Portage's impact. As a follow up, the Positively Portage Initiative was launched in 2010 with an aim to look at ways to improve and promote Portage.